Birth
by Aisling-Siobhan
Summary: Written in response to a submission from aonorunic on Tumblr. The ended Ragnarok with Loki's death, and some will do anything to ensure he is never born again, including Odin. And some, like Tony, will defend what is theirs.


"Birth"

**Disclaimer: ** The Avengers, Tony, Loki, etc belong to Marvel, Stan Lee, et co. I make no money from this and own nothing, don't sue.

**Summary: ** Written in response to a submission from aonorunic on Tumblr. The ended Ragnarok with Loki's death, and some will do anything to ensure he is never born again, including Odin. And some, like Tony, will defend what is theirs.

**Warnings: ** Character Death. Rebirth. Mpreg. AU. Think Birth (2004) with Nicole Kidman, kinda. Imprisonment. Shitty Asgardians.

**Rating: ** NC-17.

**A/N**: Ok, we all know I have issues, but this was what happened when I tried to write about Tony taking Loki's punishment for him… My brain. Don't ask.

_XXX_

**Words: **1,165

**Chapter 1**

It was dark and it was cold. But that was to be expected, he was in a dungeon after all. After five months of being trapped here, anyone would have thought he'd be used to it, but he wasn't. He still woke every morning (he didn't even know if it was morning, because the sun didn't rise or set where he was, birds didn't greet the dawn and owls nor crickets made noise at night but he assumed it was morning because that was when he woke from his restless sleep), and when he woke he glanced towards the window that wasn't actually there. He had scraped it into the stone of the wall with a broken piece off metal, something that had fallen from one of Asgard's soldiers' uniforms when he had struggled against them.

No light shined in through his fake window, and nothing got passed the magically reinforced bars at the front of the cell either. Not like it would matter whether they were magically reinforced or not; he was human, he couldn't bend the bars or break them and he certainly couldn't squeeze through them, not at six months pregnant.

And that, that fact, was why he was here. One of the first humans to ever set foot upon Asgardian soil without an engagement to one of its citizens or without being tortured to death, and they kept him in a dungeon. Out of fear. Out of hatred. Maybe, for a select few, out of love for the child he carried, for Loki.

And wasn't that a kicker? Loki's father had reacted in a worse manner to the news than Director Fury had. Tony didn't fool himself into thinking that this was a great achievement, or good, or anything like that. Thanos killed Loki. Thanos averted Ragnarök. When the dust was settled and Thanos had slunk away back to all the corners of his dead space, Tony had woken up in a hospital, with a stomach ache and the stench of magic on his skin.

Thor had examined him and thought nothing of it, but a month later as Tony threw up every meal and the smell of Loki's magic grew stronger around him, around his stomach, Thor finally realised what it meant.

"My brother lives," he had informed them one morning. Tony had gotten sick at the thought.

Thor had told the Asgardians while Tony explained to Nick. Fury had taken it well enough, calling him a motherfucker and an idiot and demanding he raise the bastard right because so help him god...

Odin had demanded Thor bring Tony to Asgard, to face trial for helping protect the Harbinger, never mind that it hadn't been Tony's idea or wish. Never mind that he had no choice about it, was horrified himself about it, but he wasn't going to kill a baby for fuck sake; Loki hadn't asked for this any more than he had, and anyway how did one go about aborting a foetus from a _man_?

He had gone with Thor, willingly, because these were Loki's parents, his brother. Surely they would have been pleased by the news of his rebirth? Surely they would have thanked Tony, welcomed him into the family as Loki's surrogate mother-father-person. But they hadn't.

Tony could still remember trying to run, darting away from Thor's reach with one hand pressed protectively against his stomach because dammit the kid was his now and he hadn't realised how much he wanted it until Odin threatened to rip it from his belly. Guards had grabbed him, dragged him back by his arms, even as he kicked, even as he struggled. Thor had watched with his head bowed, eyes half-lidded, but he hadn't raised a finger to help. They had thrown Tony into the dungeons. They had thrown _Loki_ into the dungeons, and that had sucked a little more, because Loki hadn't even been a baby at the time, just a little bundle of cells, and they had talked about starving Tony into miscarrying, and it was their _son_ they spoke about like that.

"He is the Harbinger," Odin had informed him angrily, one eye narrowed. Tony had glared back, using the worst of his dirty looks, the ones that had even made Nick back down on occasion. But Odin only scoffed at him, demanding they lock him away, because, "no more shall Loki's reign of terror go unchecked. The Norns have given me the chance to do what should have been done long ago: kill the Jötun at birth." Frigga pressed her hands to her mouth and Thor winced, mouth frowning, but neither spoke up to try and stop him.

Tony spent five months waiting in the dark, and though they fed him and bathed him, there were days he thought he'd be better off letting himself die. He was promised freedom after the birth, promised a safe return to Midgard sans the child and Loki had been promised a quick, pain free execution. That was a problem for Tony, because he didn't want Loki executed; then, maybe, but now he was Tony's, and Tony hated when people touched his things. But what could he do against the All-Father? What could he do all alone when he could barely get to his feet without help. But he supposed he wasn't really alone, and the sight of Loki, about four years old and curled against his side trustingly made him want to fight all the harder to protect his son.

Loki wasn't really there, Tony knew (or assumed because who the fuck could tell with magic, really?), but they spoke and they could touch, and the longer they were together, the longer Loki address Tony as mother, the more he loved him. Tony didn't want Loki to die. He didn't want them to kill Loki.

But what could he do?

"Help is coming, mother," Loki whispered into his ear one morning just as they approached the start of his six month in prison.

Tony smiled faintly at him, unbelieving, because help had never once come for him; he had always had to free himself. And yet, there stood Thor, with Mjölnir in one hand and the other yanking apart the bars of the cell, pulling until they cracked and split and fell to the ground. Clint and Bruce stood side by side, one green and mean and the other with his bow pointed towards the nearest Asgardian that looked about to interfere. Natasha was at his side, helping him stand up, and Steve was there too, swinging Tony up into his arms, mindful of his stomach, and carrying him like a fucking damsel in distress out of his godforsaken cell.

"I'll never hear the end of this," Tony muttered, glancing back at Loki.

The child smiled, waved, and faded from sight. Inside of him, something kicked, kicked again, and Tony grinned wide, hands against his stomach feeling Loki wriggle inside of him as the Avengers brought them home.

**The End**


End file.
